Hashiru
by s' old fic
Summary: A waffy Chiharu and Yamazaki short. Version 2.0 up 2002.9


***

Hashiru (Run)

A CCS fanfic by Sakura

Standard disclaimers apply.

Slightly edited version up 2002.9.13.

'Hashiru' by Sakamoto Maaya (from the album 'Dive') snippet romanization/translation mine.

***

The first time you talked to me, we were in kindergarten, and I was standing under a tree in the playground and crying over a scraped knee.  You suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stood beside me, leaning closer to whisper excitedly in my ear.

"If you look beyond that roof over there, you'll see a cat from outer space."

"Idiot." I furiously brushed away the tears with the back of my hand.  "There are no cats from outer space!"

"But there are; I've seen one." 

"Don't be stupid."

"I'm telling the truth!"

"There are no cats from outer space."

"How would you know if there aren't any?"

"Because there are NO CATS FROM OUTER SPACE!"  I stomped my foot, voice rising in frustration.

Instead of arguing though, you held up a finger to your lips and went sssshhhh.  Then you suddenly grabbed my arm and pointed at something moving at a distant rooftop.  "It's there!"  You hissed. 

I looked.  It was a cat, half of a left ear missing, stubby tail flipping lightly as it gracefully jumped from roof to roof.

"An alien cat!"  You triumphantly said.  "Did you notice the left ear?  That means it's a pirate cat.  Pirate cats usually don't have parts of their left ears because they cut them off before they go on missions."

"P-Pirate cat?" I asked, wide-eyed.  

"Yes, this one looks like it came from Andro--"  You stumbled over the big word.  "Ando..  Andoromemo--- Andoromeda!"

"Andoromemoda?" I echoed, awed by the strange word.

"Yes."  You nodded, smiling.  "I read all about it in a book.  You see--"

At that moment the teacher came out to call us back into the classroom, so you grabbed my hand and we started running.  I didn't mind.  As you continued to tell me about the cat from outer space and how he landed here from the moon, I was holding on to every word, a child entranced by the tale, scraped knee and tear-streaked face forgotten.

Then we grew up and I found out that there were no such things as cats from Andromeda --- or outer space for that matter --- but I decided not to tell you because I knew you knew that right from the start.

So how many years has it been since kindergarten?  So many years, so much time, almost impossible to count on my fingers.  At that thought spoken aloud, you straighten up in your seat and murmur thoughtfully, "Ten years."

"Ten?" I blink, sipping my soda.  "I thought it was around seven or so."

"Ten years," you repeat, firmly.  "It's been ten years since I first met you, Chiharu-chan."

And we leave it at that.  I never argue with you when it comes to dealing out facts, like it was last summer when you won that stuffed bear at the fair for me, or it was the summer before that when we went fishing and ended up knocking over the can of bait into the water...  Everything is neatly filed in your head; all you have to do is sift through those memories and there you'd be, chanting like an expert on us --- first grade, we caught fireflies in the schoolyard.  Second grade, we got off at the wrong bus stop and you cried on a bench so I bought melon icicles and we got orange stains all over our uniforms.  Third grade, you gave me my first Valentine chocolate.  Fourth grade, you came along when my family went to Nagoya, and I taught you how to ski.  Fifth grade, you gave me truffle chocolates for Valentine's Day and I told you for the first time that I love you.  

And so on and so forth.      

How different you are whenever you talk about these things --- you smile gently, your voice softens into a whisper, your hands awkwardly grapple with a spoon, a pen...  Then a second later a switch is flipped and there you are again, grinning widely, leaning across the table excitedly --- But hey, did you know that some worms can eat fish?  They have teeth like piranhas!  That means the next time we go fishing we can use fish for bait and catch worms---

And I'd be screeching and whacking you on the head with a book and you'd be laughing like crazy and---

Well, it'd just be like always.                                 

Come to think of it, I never did ask you why you like to tell stories so much.  I never questioned the five long shelves of science fiction paperbacks in your room, your fascination with primetime shows on TV with odd revelations like "My mother was a man!", your love for comedies.  Maybe that's because in turn, you never did ask me why I like weepy dramas and crying over squashed beetles and running in the rain.  It's as if all these years of being together have mellowed down the differences, taken the weirdness out of our eccentricities.

But what's funny is that even though I already know you this much, there always seems to be something new to find out about you.  And what's even funnier is that you seem to discover new things about me as well.  

"Hey, you know what?  When you sit in the sun like that, your hair turns blond, almost honey gold."

"Idiot.  Everyone's hair lightens in the sun."

"No, yours is different.  Look, it's lighter than light brown.  Even lighter than Kinomoto-san's hair."

I shake my head and you smile.    

So many people have asked me why we're still together after all this time.  Every time they ask me that I can't seem to come up with a coherent answer.  What do I say?  It's because you're nice and smart and talented and you know me inside out---      

"And I infuriate you with my stories," you helpfully point out, grinning.

"You don't infuriate me, you drive me insane," I mutter.

---and even though you drive me insane with your stories, I still love you.

And you love me.

"Chiharu-chan," you say, "shall we go now?"         

"Okay.  But can we pass by the handicrafts store before we head home?"

"Sure.  What for?"

"I need some balls of yarn and needles, I guess."

"Oh, you're making a sweater?"

"Yes.  Summer is nearly over and it'll be cold soon, so--"

"Speaking of sweaters, did you know that in Hawaii they used to---"

"Yes yes, let's get going."

It's been ten years since I first met you.  So many years, so much time.

What lies ahead of us?

I don't know.  And you don't seem to know either.

Outside, you hold your hand out and I take it.  Our fingers entwine gently.  From somewhere to our left a radio plays from the open door of a shop, and even though our ears are filled with the busy, frantic sounds of the rushing crowd, the words are perfectly clear:

sagashi ni yukou

futari dake no sono basho o 

motto aishiau tame ni

What lies ahead of us?

We don't know.

But whatever it is, it's bound to be something good.

[O.Wa.Ri.]

Notes:

[1]  The snippet from 'Hashiru' above translates roughly as:            

Let's go look for  

That place just for two   

So that we may love each other more.

While I am not exactly a Sakamoto Maaya fan (at least not as rabid a fan as my friend is -_-), I like most of her songs, and 'Hashiru' is one of my most favorite ones.  I was listening to it a while ago and it reminded me so much of Chiharu and Yamazaki for some reason...

[2]  The part where Chiharu gives Yamazaki some truffle chocolates and he tells her that he loves her is actually based on the "CCS Drama 2 ~ Sweet Valentine Stories" CD.  But since this drama took place before Eriol came, that means they were in fourth grade then, not in fifth grade as I wrote here.  So that's one minor glitch; hope nobody takes offense. ^_^


End file.
